Turbulent Times
by ginnyweasley777
Summary: Matt and Emily are in love, they just don't know it yet.  Follows Matt and Emily's relationship after she returns from Victorian London.
1. Chapter 1: Highs and Lows

A/N - My first Matt / Emily story. This will be a multi-chapter story, chapter two is in the works already and should be up next week. I'll be focussing on Matt and Emily's relationship, although I might follow canon for the creatures. Just don't go expecting too many action scenes of fighting the creatures as I'm a flangst writer at heart. :) Reviews are extremely welcome, don't be shy!

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><p><span>Turbulent Times<span>

Chapter 1: Highs and Lows

I'm sure you could stay if you wanted to. _Do_ you want to?"

Jess's words were still ringing in my ears long after she'd gone. What did I want to do? Or to be more precise - what did I _want_?

I didn't want to go back to my husband, that was for certain. We'd only just got married before I'd disappeared through my first gateway but I lived with no illusions as to what life would be like married to him. He was a harsh man and all I was to him was something to return home to at night. He did not love me and I did not love him.

Unbidden into my mind came the image of Matt. I wasn't sure yet what I felt for him but I knew it was more than I should feel as a married woman. Already I felt closer to him than I had ever done to my husband. Matt was hard for me to figure out though. I knew he had secrets to keep and something important to do…he'd let as much slip to me and I sensed he'd come through a gateway of his own. I'd seen that look often enough before.

Perhaps I shouldn't interfere with his job, perhaps I shouldn't get too close to him? I feared it was too late for that already. My mind flashed back to several days ago…

_I rattled around the kitchen as I made a cup if tea. My near-death experience had shaken me more than I liked to admit. I knew Ethan was dangerous but I hadn't thought that he'd try to kill me. Matt had had to go back to where he worked to explain himself and I had wanted to go with him but he'd made me stay in the flat while he tried to convince his boss that I shouldn't be locked up at the ARC._

_I jumped as the door opened and my cup of tea fell to the floor with a crash and shattered. It was Matt._

"_Sorry!" I exclaimed, "I thought you were…"_

"_It's all right," replied Matt, picking up the broken cup while I wiped up the tea._

"_Listen, Lester says that you have to stay at the ARC but he's agreed to let you stay here tonight. It is for your own safety and I promise you won't be locked up."_

"_Thank you."_

_Several minutes later we were both sat down, me nursing a fresh cup of tea which Matt had made._

"_So," said Matt, "why don't you tell me about yourself, what about before you first went through an anomaly?"_

"_What is there to tell? I asked._

"_I don't know, tell me about your family, anything."_

"_What about your family?" I countered, taking a sip of tea._

_Matt smiled. It didn't quite reach his eyes though, it was closely guarded. "My father is my only family, besides, I asked about you."_

"_There's not much to tell really. I have two older brothers, my mother died soon after she gave birth to me and I've never really cared much for my father, nor him for me."_

_Matt looked at me curiously. "We had our disagreements," I explained cryptically, for some reason not wanting to tell Matt that I was married, that we'd disagreed over my father deciding who I was to marry._

"_What made you go through the anomaly in the first place? Most people tend to stay away from glowing circles of light."_

"_I don't know, I suppose I was drawn to it because I wanted a change. What about you? You must have been through lots of gateways, what made you decide on this for a job?"_

"_I didn't choose the job, it chose me in a way. It's something that I have to do to try and make a difference in the world. I-" Matt stopped talking suddenly, the guarded look back on his face. "I thought we were talking about you?" he asked, changing the subject abruptly._

"_Were we?" I replied lightly. "I thought we were talking about each other?"_

_Matt didn't answer but this time there was something different about his expression as he looked at me, something that I didn't recognise but had been there earlier when he had released me from the mausoleum._

_I held his gaze and found my face only inches away from his. Matt's hand reached up and touched my cheek, lingering while his lips came ever closer._

_The kiss was hesitant at first, seeking acceptance, and when I gave it it became deeper, two lost souls each seeking a place to call home._

_The fact that I was married was in my head for only a slight moment as we gained breath but it vanished as soon as our lips were touching again. I felt myself falling back onto the cushions with Matt's arms surrounding me and it was all too much but not enough at the same time. I fingered the hair on the nape of his neck and pulled him even closer to kiss him again and again._

_It was the most wonderful feeling to be so free and without a care for once but it was over all too soon when we were interrupted by Matt's phone ringing. The incessant noise continued until Matt sat up and answered it. I tried to regain my composure while Matt spoke._

_He sounded worried and when he finished he turned to me. A traitorous part of me wanted to kiss him again._

"_There's been another incursion and I've got to go in. You're going to have to come to the ARC now as I don't want to leave you here alone, who knows where Ethan is."_

"_Alright," I replied, standing up and straightening the shirt of Matt's that I wore._

So, the question remained as to what I wanted but what did Matt want? Did he want me to stay? What had it meant? I didn't know if either of us would have come to our senses if Matt's phone hadn't rang. We hadn't spoken about it at all, it was as if Matt had put his shield back up again, especially when we were alone together. He was completely focussed on his job.

The most emotion he'd shown since then was when he'd taken me to see his father who then died. I was touched that he'd taken me there but it only made it more clear that he had many secrets to keep.

I stood before Matt with the gateway back to my time behind me. "I thought perhaps I'd tell you I would stay," I said. "If you asked me too." Matt removed his earpiece and looked intensely at me. "That I'd let this close and that would be the end of it."

I struggled for the words to continue. "But you've got this immense thing you have to do. I don't belong here, and neither do you. You came through a gateway of your own, didn't you?" I asked, already knowing the answer deep down.

Matt nodded his head slowly. "From where? The future?" I asked.

"Everything there is either dead or dying," he replied. This time it was Matt struggling for the words. "We exist underground because the surface of the planet can't sustain life anymore - it's sterile - because of something mankind did. We destroyed it. A few of us have been sent back to different times to try and prevent it. My father as well."

"And all of this has got to do with the anomalies? I asked, working it out. "Something interferes with them."

"Some_one_," corrected Matt. "Some_one_ interferes with them. Unless I stop them, that's it, the end of all life on this planet. I will stop them."

Suddenly I knew what Matt was going to say, and even though I didn't want to, I had to go back.

"But you have to go," said Matt, confirming my fears. "I can't let anything else matter anymore."

Tears formed in my eyes as I stepped backwards into the glowing light. I took one last look at Matt before I turned around and stepped back into the past.


	2. Chapter 2: A Window Would be Nice

A/N - Here's chapter two, a little later than promised but real life had to come first. Hope you enjoy. Chapter 3 should be up soon although I have been bitten by another Matt / Emily plot bunny, probably a one-shot, that I'm also working on.

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><p><span>Turbulent Times<span>

Chapter 2: A Window Would be Nice

I watched Matt from across the room as I listened to Jess and Becker talking. He'd said that he'd i_missed_/i me. He'd i_wanted_/i me to come back to this time.

I was glad I'd come back and I didn't feel anything but relief that Henry was dead. I hadn't believed Matt at first when he'd told me that Henry was going to have me taken to Bedlam Hospital and I certainly hadn't thought that he'd try to kill me. No, it was better this way, however callous that made me seem.

"Go on, I'm sure you've got lots to talk about," said Jess, pulling me from my thoughts.

I smiled my thanks at her and walked over to Matt, nerves beginning to creep into me. He smiled when I stopped in front of him.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied, leading me into an empty office and closing the door. The silence was peaceful rather than awkward. "Listen, about your husband, I'm-"

"Don't," I said, interrupting him, "he meant nothing to me. He was a man who would have me committed to a hospital because I marred his perfect image." I paused and took a deep breath. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything," replied Matt, leaning casually against the wall.

"Why did you find out what happened, would have happened to me?"

Matt pushed off from the wall and walked towards me. "Abby found out but I chose to open the envelope," he said purposefully. He stopped in front of me and took my hand.

"Why?" I asked. His eyes met mine.

"Because I couldn't live without knowing. I couldn't live without knowing if I'd made the right decision by sending you back."

"And did you?" I asked quietly. "Make the right decision, I mean?"

"No," replied Matt earnestly, "I didn't. Can you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive," I whispered before I reached up and kissed him.

There was no desperation this time, just certainty. The certainty that no matter what the future held we each had someone to rely on and something that we could both hold on to.

When we separated I laid my head against Matt's chest, his strong arms surrounding me. It felt safe, something I hadn't felt since I was a child. It felt right.

"Come on," Matt murmured, "lets go and see Lester about you officially existing in this time."

I raised my head and looked up at him. "Do I get a window?" I asked lightly.

"Yeah, in fact my place has got plenty of windows," replied Matt dryly. "It could be permanent too, if you like."

"That i_will_/i take some getting used to, but yes, I'd like that. Thank you."

"Come on then, lets go and see him."

center***/center

Matt navigated our way through the ARC to Lester's office as I tried to make sense of the heady feeling of what had just happened. It felt good to know that I had somewhere permanent to live, i_and_/i it was with Matt.

I still didn't know quite what there was between us. There was definatly i_something_/i and I was completely new to it, completely new to being able to be i_myself_/i around someone without fear and for it to be my own choice.

"Ahh, the wanderer returns," said Lester as soon as we walked into his office. "I hope you've made your mind up to actually i_stay_/i in this time now. The amount of paperwork I had to do last time almost gave me more headaches than the dinosaurs i_and_/i Helen Cutter put together."

"That's what we've come to see you about," said Matt. "Can you see to it that Emily officially exists in this time?"

Lester looked at me. "Is this what you want?"

"Yes," I replied, "I want to stay in this time for good."

"Right, well, for that you've got to have somewhere permanent to live."

"She's going to live with me," said Matt.

Lester raised his eyebrows as he looked at the two of us. "Okay, fine," he said, "I don't pretend to be interested in the private lives of employees, just so long as you haven't got another Ethan out to kill you. I'll clear it with the Minister."

"Thank you," I replied.

"Don't thank me, I'm not the one who put a raptor back in your time and then had to go after it to fix their mistake."

"Point taken," said Matt, "we're going."

center***/center

"Is he always like that?" I asked as we headed back downstairs.

"Pretty much, yeah," replied Matt. "Let's go home, I think we've had enough excitement for the day."

"Yes," I smiled, "waking up in the past, getting chased by a raptor, getting shot…home sounds good."

center***/center

It was strange to walk into Matt's home again but nothing had changed - it was just as bare I remembered.

Matt sat down and indicated that I was to join him. I settled next to him and remembered what had happened the last time I'd sat there.

"I want you to know that I regretted sending you back the instant you went through that anomaly. I was only doing what I thought best though."

"I know you did," I replied. "Have you found out anything about Philip Burton yet?"

"I think it's him who does the damage but I don't know how yet. Abby knows about me now and she's just managed to copy Connor's hard drive that's got his work with Philip on it."

"Hard what?" I asked.

"Sorry, the computer that he's been working on," replied Matt. "He's got Connor working on something and I think that could be it. I've i_got_/i to figure it out and stop him."

"You will, you'll do it," I said encouragingly.

Matt looked at me, worry evident in his face. "You seem very sure of that."

"When you're determined to do something, you can usually achieve it, no matter how impossible it seems."

"It sounds like you've got experience in that," said Matt.

"Staying alive while travelling between gateways," I replied, standing up. "Now come on, lets get something to eat."


End file.
